Florida Teenager, Who Was Initially Diagnosed With Influenza, Discovers She Has Stage 4 Cancer

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Just a few weeks after he was diagnosed with the flu, a 16-year-old from Florida found that he actually had stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma.

When Hudson's Hunter Brady started feeling sick, weak, and short of breath in November, his parents took him to the doctor. The doctor said he had a virus that was probably influenza and prescribed antibiotics.

"I had been taking antibiotics for two weeks and I felt worse," Hunter tells People magazine. "I had to sleep sitting up. My father looked at me one night during dinner and said let's go to a hospital.”

Upon arriving at Mease Countryside Hospital in Safety Harbor, FL, a CT scan revealed that his entire right lung had collapsed and his left lung was already 30 percent collapsed.

"We were told it was the worst X-ray of a child they had ever seen," Hunter's mother, Cheryl Brady, tells People magazine. "He was referred to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa because he had a pulmonary doctor."

There, he underwent five surgeries to drain fluid from his heart and lungs. She was then biopsied on January 4, which revealed that she had the most aggressive type of Hodgkin lymphoma.

"I was in shock and very scared," reveals Hunter, who started aggressive chemotherapy treatment on January 8. "But I knew I could beat this, so I stayed positive. I had a lot of faith."

The teenager, who dreams of becoming a pastor someday, assures that both his mentor, who is a pastor, and his mother have shown him "that I can achieve everything my mind sets on."

Since his diagnosis, Hunter - who has always loved being outdoors and fishing with his siblings - has received several sessions of chemotherapy and has a survival rate of about 65 percent. The young man returned home on Tuesday and has two more treatments, after which he will begin receiving radiation.

Cheryl says her son has always been "very humble" and has told people that he prefers to be the sick one and not one of his six brothers.

"The community has come together and many people have reached out to us," says Cheryl. "That inspires her to keep fighting to beat this. We feel very blessed.”

The family has also created a page on the YouCaring.com portal to raise funds to help with medical expenses not covered by insurance.

"There's no going back," Hunter admits. "Listening to people say that I am an inspiration has made me feel better than I ever imagined."

Translated by Carmen Orozco

This article originally appeared on People.com